Small leases keeping office market afloat

Thomas A. Corfman

Small leases, not big ones, are keeping the office market afloat.
The vacancy rates in both the city and the suburbs declined during the second quarter, as the demand for space grew.
But leases for more than 20,000 square feet of space totaled a "lackluster" 609,000 square feet in the downtown market during the second quarter, compared to more than 1.8 million square feet during the prior period, according a report by Chicago-based MB Real Estate Services LLC. Big deals were also scarce in the suburbs, the report notes.
Check out some of the big office and suburban lease deals in the quarter
Yet despite the dearth of large transactions, the office market is improving.
"You don't get any real drama going either way, you get bits and pieces, but it helps," says John Murphy, recently named
president of the firm's Midwest region.
The downtown vacancy rate declined to 15.9% during the second quarter, compared to 16% during the first quarter, and 16.6%
during the year-earlier period. The suburban vacancy rate declined to 16.8% during the second quarter, compared to 17.1%

Small leases, not big ones, are keeping the office market afloat.

The vacancy rates in both the city and the suburbs declined during the second quarter, as the demand for space grew.

But leases for more than 20,000 square feet of space totaled a "lackluster" 609,000 square feet in the downtown market during the second quarter, compared to more than 1.8 million square feet during the prior period, according a report by Chicago-based MB Real Estate Services LLC. Big deals were also scarce in the suburbs, the report notes.